Compulsive hoarding is a mental disorder that is just beginning to be understood. As a hoarder, I have acquired things over the years with a specific purpose in mind at the time of the acquisition, used some of those items for their intended purposes, forgotten the goal for different objects, but now that I find that they have outlived their purpose in my life I am struggling to rid myself of those same things.

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Sunday, March 6, 2011

Socks, socks, everywhere and not a pair to wear.

I've been busy. I'm making progress. Except when it comes to blogging and I hit the wrong key in the dark and lose my entire post.

:::heavy sigh:::

We finally got the remaining clothes sorted and most washed that I've been working on for the last 9 or 10 years. That included washing three basketsful of socks.

Yup. You heard that right.

Three basketsful.

That's a lot of socks.

My wonderful mother, who is still at our home and helping me out, sorted socks. Lots of socks. She sorted. She matched. She mated. All kinds of socks. Teeny, tiny socks from almost 24 years ago when Bugster was a baby to little ruffled socks Hopper and Scooter wore with dresses when they were little to socks that were left here when Bugster moved out of the house to socks that have just lost their appeal. She sorted socks without mates and socks without soles.

We dumped them out on Scooter's bed to get an idea of how big a pile of socks Mom had paired up...

And they lived happily ever after.

They seemed happy. They bounced around and chattered. When we listened very closely, we could hear the socks whispering that they were so glad to have been reunited with their solemates after all these years. There was much rejoicing.

When all was said and done, and the socks we were keeping were put safely away, there were more socks left in the baskets than we kept. I'll keep the 3rd basket of unmated socks until I get through the rest of the boxes that came in from the storage pod. I'm bound to be able to find mates for some of them in the boxes.

We will likely donate the mated ones from the bed that we didn't keep to a battered women's shelter where they will hopefully help someone out in a time of need. The cherry on the top of the sock pile is that we won't ever have to wash them again or scavenge for mates. They will be out of our house forever!

I just want to tell you that that room looks beautiful. What a cute bed and cheery room.That is a pile of socks!Keep up the good work. I can't wait for you to share pictures with us of some of your projects.pam

It really is crazy how socks accumulate. I was going through my own sock drawer last week, since I could no longer close it. I really don't know why I have so many! I'll have to follow your lead and donate some as well.

Who's Who and What's What in Confession's Closet

**The Hubster is my wonderful husband, but that was probably pretty evident. We recently celebrated our 30th anniversary.**Bugster is our oldest daughter, 29, who got married Spring 2010.**Bubster is Bugster's 28 year old husband.

**Baby Bug is is our first grandchild. Bugster and Bubster's beautiful little girl.**Frank is Bubster's 20 year old brother.Bugster and Bubster raised him the first 6 years of their married life, starting at age 14, due to a lack of parental responsibility.**Calamity is, for lack of a better description, Bugster and Frank's mother. To get a better idea of Calamity and how the kids ended up with guardianship of Frank, click here.

**Hopper is our middle daughter, 25, who has severe developmental delays due to a chromosome rearrangement.**Scooter is our youngest daughter, 22, who also has severe developmental delays due to the same genetic condition as Hopper. To read a little about the genetics, click here.

About Me

I'm a woman in the midst of self-discovery. I realized recently I'm a hoarder, and I'm wanting to change that. In order to do so, I need to deal with things I've not dealt with in the past. Struggles we've had. Dreams that were lost. And such an immense love for my family that I tend to hold onto everything that reminds me of them. I'm learning to let go and let the memories be enough.